Oakland County Michigan Sheriff Risks Life Enters Hostage Situation Unarmed

A man barricaded himself inside a home in Pontiac, Michigan, on May 5th, 2015, holding two children hostage 

Sheriff Michael Bouchard

with a large knife. But the stand-off, which certainly had the potential to turn deadly, ended peacefully thanks to actions take by the Oakland County Sheriff, Michael Bouchard.

The suspect reportedly ran into the home in order to evade arrest. The man, a parolee, feared being arrested after he learned the Michigan Department of Corrections was planning to visit him as part of a welfare check.

The suspect kept repeating that he was going to die today and that he had nothing to live for.

The two children he held hostage were the suspect’s nieces.

Oakland County Sheriff Michel Bouchard eventually entered the home to negotiate with the man,  showing the distraught man that we was disarmed.

The Suspect's Nieces Released Unarmed

Unarmed and face-to-face with an armed hostage taker, Bouchard managed to talk the man down, convincing get him to throw away his knife and let the kids go.  He reassured the suspect that nobody was going to die today. Police were able to arrest him without any one getting injured.

“I know I breached a lot of protocol and made a few people nervous, but I felt that after I chatted with his mother, that between his mother and I, we could diffuse the situation,” Bouchard told WXYZ-TV.